Public lecture the question of Palestine
THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE
RICHARD WARD BUILDING
Date: 13 Jul 2009
Time: 18H00 to 20H00
http://events.avusa.co.za/theweekender/register.aspx?id=25
China xinjiang crisis deepens
China: Xinjiang crisis deepens
By John Chan
Heads of state at the G8 summit in Italy were taken by surprise yesterday when Chinese President Hu Jintao suddenly decided to return home to deal with the ongoing crisis in Xinjiang. Hopes that China could play an important role in discussions on the global financial crisis were punctured by developments in Xinjiang, which underscore the country’s escalating social tensions.
So far no world leader has publicly condemned the massive crackdown by Chinese security forces in Urumqi or challenged Beijing’s claim that its heavily-armed troops are there to maintain social order and prevent further ethnic conflict.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: “We know there is a long history of tension and discontent, but the most immediate matter is to bring the violence to a conclusion.” Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd declared: “[R]estraint is required now on the part of all parties in order to bring about a peaceful settlement to this difficulty.”
Tehran and tegucigalpa a tale of two capitals
Tehran and Tegucigalpa: A tale of two capitals
In Tehran, demonstrations called by the defeated US-backed presidential candidate are given non-stop, wall-to-wall coverage by the American media. The charges of former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi of a stolen election and a “coup d’etat” are embraced uncritically and reported as fact by the New York Times, the Washington Post and other “authoritative” newspapers, without any independent investigation or substantiation. A media propaganda campaign ensues aimed at isolating and destabilizing the ruling faction in Iran headed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The protests are dominated by better-off sections of the urban middle class, who largely voted for Mousavi and support his right-wing program of closer ties to American and European imperialism and a rapid introduction of pro-market policies. The working class, seeing nothing to support in the faction of “reformists” headed by Mousavi and the billionaire former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, abstains from the protests.
The media dispenses with any pretence of objectivity and proclaims the protest movement and its leaders the spearhead of a “green revolution” for democracy. Every act of repression by the Iranian regime is given headline coverage, and rumors of hundreds of deaths are reported as fact. The US media focuses its wrath in particular on the regime’s efforts to block Internet and mobile phone communication.